John Cena has missed Royal Rumble event as per the earlier speculations. WWE has brought him back on TV at the very beginning of 2019 hinting that he would be a part of the Road to Wrestlemania. But he is more of a movie star role than of a wrestler. So he had to go to Hollywood leaving the most exciting part of the WWE programming.
However, WWE portrayed his departure as a ‘work’ rather than the actual reason. Apparently, John Cena picked up an ankle injury during a fatal-4-way main event match on WWE Raw. Drew McIntyre tweaked his ankle while locking in the Angle Lock. This was a projected on-screen reason why he had to be off from the Royal Rumble match.
Now we have received some news on his Wrestlemania status, as well. He might be set to make an appearance at the biggest event of them all at the very last moment. But his movie schedule will not allow him to go through the Wrestlemania season. Rather he might show up on WWE TV on April 7th itself missing all the weekly shows.
A report from The Dirty Sheets suggested that John Cena was originally set to face Lars Sullivan at WrestleMania 35. But that plan is out of the blueprint considering that Lars has not been able to show up on WWE TV. Currently, the plan is to make a match between John Cena and Drew McIntyre at the showcase of immortals.
WWE has already planted seeds for the match as McIntyre injured Cena’s ankle (kayfabe) during the Fatal 4 Way #1 contenders match on Raw. It cost him the Royal Rumble match that is a significant part to set this match up. However, the 16-time world champion is not likely to appear on any of the episodes of Monday Night Raw as we head towards Wrestlemania 35.
He is currently filming a movie titled ‘Playing With Fire’ in Canada. The filming process of this movie will continue until April 1st. This schedule will not allow WWE to bring him even for one single appearance on any of the shows. We should note that the final RAW before WrestleMania 35 will also take place on April 1st as well.
https://youtu.be/ZEVLfPyJoro
So there are no chances for John Cena to appear on the go-home episode of Raw for Wrestlemania. So WWE can think of involving him in a feud via pre-taped promos or vignettes. They have to adjust the storyline accordingly in order to make room for Cena’s virtual presence. This is the only way to make up the absence of the franchise figure on the programming.